Various forms of dampers have been used in camera pan/tilt mountings, some, of the friction type, embodying inter-engaging sliding surfaces and others, of the viscous type, having relatively moveable surfaces with a viscous fluid therebetween sheared by the relative movement between the surfaces to provide resistance. Still other forms of dampers have embodied both friction and viscous components. Examples of such arrangements can be found in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,884 our International Patent Publication No. WO92/03683 and our International Patent Application No. PCT/GB93/00746.
The above arrangements are all essentially mechanical in nature and while it is normal to provide adjustment for varying a maximum resistance offered, the torque/speed characteristics of such dampers are inherent in their design and construction and cannot readily be varied thereafter.